Decision No. 1259/QD/KHKT-PCVT on the inspection of the quality of various types of motor vehicles produced and assembled according to design and bearing foreign brand names.

Pursuant to …;

Issuing regulations on quality inspection of various types of motor vehicles produced and assembled according to design and bearing foreign brand names

_______________________

THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORTATION

Pursuant to item 4, Article 26 of the Traffic Engineering Protection Ordinance promulgated by the President's Decree No. 38/CTN dated December 10, 1994;

Pursuant to Decree No. 22/CP dated March 22, 1994 of the Government stipulating the tasks, authorities, responsibilities for state management and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

Pursuant to item 2, Article 5 of Decree No. 36/CP dated May 29, 1995 of the Government on ensuring traffic order and safety on roads and urban traffic order and safety and Article 15 of the Road Traffic Order and Safety Regulations and Urban Traffic Order and Safety Regulations issued together with Decree No. 36/CP dated May 29, 1995 of the Government;

Pursuant to item 3, Article 3 and item 4, Article 4 of Decree No. 86/CP dated December 8, 1995 of the Government stipulating the division of responsibilities for state management of product quality;

Considering the proposal of the Director of the Department of Science and Technology and the Director of the Legal Affairs - Transportation Department.

DECISION:

Article 1. Now hereby issuing along with this Decision "Regulations on Quality Inspection of Various Types of Motor Vehicles Produced and Assembled According to Design and Bearing Foreign Brand Names".

Article 2. THIS DECISION SHALL TAKE EFFECT FROM THE DATE OF SIGNATURE. ALL PREVIOUS DECISIONS CONTRARY TO THIS DECISION ARE ABROGATED.

Article 3. The Heads of the Ministry’s Office, Directors of the Department of Science and Technology, Legal Affairs - Transportation Department, Directors of the Vietnam Highway Administration, Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Bureau, Directors of Provincial and Municipal Departments of Transport and Public Works under the Central Government and Heads of related units shall be responsible for guiding and implementing this Decision.

REGULATIONS

Quality inspection of various types of motor vehicles produced and assembled according to design and bearing foreign brand names

(Issued along with Decision No. 1259QĐ/KHKT-PCVT, June 4, 1996)

Chapter 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. 1. Terms used in these regulations are understood as follows:

1. 1.1. Motor vehicles include: - Passenger cars; - Cargo trucks; - Special purpose vehicles (crane trucks, ambulances, hot asphalt trucks, concrete mixer trucks...); - Semi-trailers and trailers; - Two-wheeled, three-wheeled motorcycles, cyclos, and motorized rickshaws. - Construction machinery requiring public road travel.

1. 1.2. Production and assembly of motor vehicles referred to in these regulations are production and assembly tasks as prescribed by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, State General Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality Control (such as SKD, CKD1, CKD2 and IKD assembly forms).

1. 1.3. Production facilities are: Domestic production facilities including joint ventures producing and assembling motor vehicles with foreign investment.

1. 2. Scope and applicability of these regulations

1. 2.1. All production facilities that produce and assemble motor vehicles according to design and bearing foreign brand names must undergo product quality inspections in accordance with the provisions of these regulations.

1. 2.2. Motor vehicles produced or assembled domestically without following design and not bearing foreign brand names are not within the scope of application of these regulations.

1. 2.3. These regulations do not apply to motor vehicles used for military purposes by the Ministry of Defense and for security and social order purposes by the police force.

2. REGULATIONS ON REGISTRATION FOR PRODUCTION AND ASSEMBLY OF MOTOR VEHICLES

2. 1. Production facilities wishing to produce or assemble motor vehicles according to design and bearing foreign brand names for supply to domestic or international markets must register production or assembly of such motor vehicles at the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Bureau.

2. 2. Documents for registration to produce or assemble motor vehicles include: - Product design;

- Overall drawings of the product;

- Design and manufacturing standards applied during assembly and production;

- Technical and economic specifications (including technical safety and environmental protection specifications) of the product;

- List of countries where the product has been or is being produced and used;

- Copy of quality and trademark registration certificates from authorized state agencies (of foreign countries) where the product has been certified for quality and registered for trademark;

- Assembly type and projected quantity of products to be assembled for each production cycle;

- Agreement or contract between the foreign manufacturer and the facility seeking to produce or assemble the product domestically, clearly stating the responsibilities and commitments of each party regarding technology transfer and implementation measures to ensure that the quality of domestically produced and assembled products is equivalent to that of the original foreign manufacturer's products.

- Production and assembly process; standards and inspection procedures (including introduction of testing equipment used during inspection) for each stage and for the final product to ensure product quality and technical characteristics equivalent to those of the original foreign manufacturer's products.

- Registration statement explaining the method of numbering engines and frames from the first product to subsequent products of the registered production and assembly type.

2. 3. Regulations on permission to produce or assemble motor vehicles.

Based on the registration documents and in comparison with current regulations of relevant state management agencies concerning motor vehicles, the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Bureau will submit to the Ministry of Transport for decision on granting permission to produce or assemble the registered products. Notification of approval shall be made within no more than 15 days from receipt of complete registration documents as required.

Việc thông báo cấp phép được tiến hành không quá mười lăm ngày kể từ khi nhận được đầy đủ hồ sơ đăng ký theo đúng quy định.

2. 4. Production facilities must pay registration fees as prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

3. PROVISIONS ON INSPECTION AND QUALITY CERTIFICATION OF PRODUCTS

3. 1. The Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency shall be responsible for coordinating with relevant agencies to develop procedures and regulations related to product inspection and quality certification for submission to the Ministry of Transport for issuance. It shall also unify the management of all forms, quality certificates, and quality inspection reports, and provide guidance on the issuance and use of these certificates for each registered product type.

3. 2. Application for Product Inspection and Quality Certificate Issuance.

Upon completion of the first product of a registered type, the production facility shall prepare an application for inspection to obtain a product quality certificate and submit it to the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency.

In cases of refusal, the State Bank will issue a document refusing approval to use foreign currency within the territory and clearly state the reasons.

- Report on technological solutions implemented to ensure product quality and completion.

- Results of product quality inspections according to the stages of the registered production and assembly process, and final product quality results compared to the original prototype produced abroad.

- A document from the foreign manufacturer recognizing the product's quality equivalent to the original prototype.

3. 3. Product Quality Inspection Board

3. 3.1. The composition of the Ministry of Transport’s Product Quality Inspection Board includes the following main members:

 The Director of the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency - Chairman of the Board.

Representative of the Vietnam Road Administration - Member of the Board.

Representative of the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Transport - Member of the Board.

When necessary, the Director of the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency shall report to the Ministry of Transport to issue a decision to supplement other members of the Board.

3. 3.2. The Product Quality Inspection Board operates based on democratic principles, discussing to reach consensus. In case of differing opinions, the Chairman of the Board shall make the final decision.

3. 3.3. Responsibilities of the Product Quality Inspection Board include:

- Inspecting and evaluating the equipment, technical infrastructure, and technological solutions implemented by the production facility to complete and ensure product quality.

 - Comparing specifications and quality standards according to the registered production and assembly process with completed products.

- Inspecting the implementation of technological processes and quality control procedures by production facilities to ensure product quality.

- Verifying quality inspection documents of the production facility and quality certifications and agreements from foreign manufacturers regarding domestic production facility products.

- Preparing inspection records for product quality.

3. 3.4. Production facilities are responsible for providing favorable conditions for the Product Acceptance Quality Board to conduct inspections effectively.

3. 3.5. The Product Quality Inspection Board is responsible for the content and quality of its inspections.

3. 4. Issuance of Product Quality Certificates

3. 4.1. Based on the conclusion of the Product Quality Inspection Board, the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency issues a quality certificate for the first product of a registered type.

This certificate is issued separately for each registered product type for quality registration procedures with the National Standard Measurement Quality Control General Department, and is duplicated to issue to subsequent products of the same type as stipulated in Clause 3.4.5 below.

3. 4.2. After receiving the quality certificate for the first product, the production facility may proceed to produce subsequent products of the same type as registered, except when the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency discovers that the production facility does not meet the quality requirements of the registered product, in which case the production facility must cease operations to re-inspect the product quality.

3. 4.3. Production facilities must pay quality certification fees as prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

3. 4.4. After obtaining the quality certificate for the first product, the production facility may self-inspect and issue quality inspection reports for subsequent products and bear responsibility for their quality.

Each production facility's quality inspection report for individual products must follow the prescribed form and be registered with the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency. It must clearly state the engine number and frame number of each product consistent with the registration and explanation of numbering methods provided in Clause 2.2.

The production facility's quality inspection report upon factory release is used for vehicle registration procedures, safety testing, circulation permits, or export product procedures as needed.

3. 4.5. The production facility is responsible for providing customers or vehicle owners with two sets of documents for the following purposes:

- One set for vehicle registration procedures;

- One set for safety testing and circulation permit issuance;

Each set of documents mentioned above includes:

- A copy of the quality certificate for the first product of the same type issued by the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency;

- The production facility's quality inspection report upon factory release (as stipulated in Clause 3.4.4.);

- An introduction to the economic and technical specifications of the vehicle;

4. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

4. 1. The Director of the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency is responsible for coordinating with the Directors of the Vietnam Road Administration and the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Transport to guide and monitor the implementation of this regulation.

4. 2. The Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency is responsible for storing all related files concerning the registration and issuance of quality certificates for motor vehicles produced and assembled within the scope of this regulation. Quarterly, the Vietnam Vehicle Inspection Agency compiles and reports the implementation status to the Ministry of Transport (through the Science and Technology Department).

4. 3. Products previously approved for mass production by the Joint Technical Inspection Board of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Home Affairs remain valid if they do not contravene this regulation.

This provision shall take effect from the date of issuance. All previous provisions contrary to this provision are hereby abolished.